MILTON — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filed these cases between Dec. 16 and Dec. 29 in Santa Rosa County:
GUN, DEER MEAT SEIZED
Officer Hutchinson received information about a person who shot an antlerless deer out of season with a modern firearm.
After an initial investigation, he learned that the person was a convicted felon and could not legally possess a firearm. Officers Hutchinson and Clark arrived at his property in the early morning hours and made contact with his brother-in-law, who also lives on the property.
The officers discovered the antlerless deer carcass inside a barrel hanging from a skinning rack. They also discovered an ice chest with meat from the antlerless deer.
After questioning the man, he agreed to take officers to where the suspect was living on the property. They drove through the property to a wooded area that had a two-story shooting house in the bushes. The brother-in-law told officers that the suspect lived in the shooting house.
The officers made contact with the suspect, who admitted to using a modern firearm to shoot the antlerless deer out of season. They discovered that the suspect did not have a valid Florida hunting license and that he trespassed onto a nearby hunting club to harvest the deer.
The suspect turned over the firearm used to harvest the deer. The officers seized the firearm and the deer meat. The officer issued the suspect a notice to appear for taking an antlerless deer out of season. Additional charges are pending.
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PENALTY FOR EARLY ENTRY
Officer Jones was patrolling the Eglin Wildlife Management Area when he encountered a hunter driving a vehicle on an Eglin Range road well before legal time to enter Eglin property.
The officer issued a notice to appear citation for early entry.
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WILLFUL WASTE OF WILDLIFE
Officers Hoomes and Long were patrolling Roberts Pond in the Eglin WMA when they located footprints leading into a closed area.
They found a freshly killed antlerless deer approximately 50 yards from where someone entered the closed area. The officers also located a receipt from a local retail vendor; it appeared to have been left as a marker to locate where the illegal deer was killed.
The officers located the man by using information from the receipt and interviewed him about the deer. The suspect admitted to shooting the deer and leaving it in the woods because some hunters in the area saw him attempting to retrieve it.
He also admitted to dropping the receipt on the edge of the road as a marker for when he returned to retrieve the deer.
Officers issued the man citations for taking an antlerless deer during closed season and for hunting in a closed area in Eglin WMA. Officers issued him a warning for the willful and wanton waste of wildlife.
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NO DOGS ALLOWED
Officers Roberson, Hoomes and Long responded to a complaint of people hunting with dogs in the Yellow River WMA.
The officers located the suspects, who were hunting rabbits with dogs. The area is closed to this activity and officers issued them citations for the violations.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Taking antlerless deer out of season among incidents